The Medical Assessment and Rating Board (MARB) of the National Medical Commission (NMC) has issued an official notification to shortly conduct the surprise inspection process for various applications for the academic year 2024–2025. Different medical college faculty members will serve as assessors for completing the inspection process.

Issuing a notice in this regard, the Medical Assessment and Rating Board (MARB) of NMC on November 23, 2023, mentioned, “It is brought to the notice that MARB-NMC is about to start the inspection process for the academic year 2024-2025 for various applications, for which faculties from various medical colleges will be engaged as assessors for conducting the said inspection.”

The Apex Medical Commission further informed that, in order to maintain the element of surprise, the assessors will be informed 48 hours prior to the inspection date. Therefore, the assessors may need to travel within 24 hours of the notification.

“Since the National Medical Commission will be conducting surprise inspections of various medical colleges, the faculty members will be engaged in the inspection of other medical colleges,” read the NMC’s official notice.

The Apex Medical Commission has also asked the medical colleges to cooperate with the faculty members to ensure a smooth and hassle-free inspection process, the Commission added, “It is requested to cooperate with the faculty members who are engaged in this activity by granting them leave for the days they are required to travel, to conduct smooth and hassle-free inspection process. NMC appreciates the cooperation and contributions extended by the medical fraternity towards improving the medical education system in India.”

According to the National Medical Commission, the surprise inspection of medical colleges is a crucial activity for ensuring and enhancing the quality of medical education in India.

Earlier, the commission had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Quality Council of India (QCI) to assess the ratings of the medical colleges in July. The National Medical Commission has also declared that from 2024-25 academic session, both government and private medical colleges in the country will be rated based on the quality of education they offer.

NMC referred to Robust Randomization Software that will be used for the selection of the date of assessment and selection of assessors, while discussing the assessment process and the procedure to select the assessors. The Medical Assessment and Rating Board also discussed the criteria for assessor selection and code of conduct for the assessors.